


The Little Thank You’s

by aam5ever



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mute!Link, Pool time! Who doesn’t love pool time?, They’re gonna be very gay and you’re gonna love it, blood tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 00:21:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17838842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aam5ever/pseuds/aam5ever
Summary: Link has been blown up, beaten down, and even bitten up by wolves. Shot, shocked, and shaken out of trees, he’s always had more than enough on his plate. Sidon wanted to give the Hylian who always was expected to bite off more than he could chew a little... thank you for his efforts.





	The Little Thank You’s

**Author's Note:**

> Another BOTW fic! I’ve always thought Link was expected to do a thousand things more than the average Hylian. I know he’s the chosen one, but jeez, he’s just one guy. I’m sure Sidon shares the same grievances.

“So… you think you can take down Ganon when you bruise like a peach?” 

Link nodded once. Sidon laughed with good nature, a rosy tint to his cheeks. 

“Well, you surely have spirit.” 

It was another day Link had flown in with his paraglider, stumbled into a landing, and was immediately greeted by Sidon and his concerns. This time, it was the arrow sticking out of his shoulder and the blood running down in multiple places about his body that really had Sidon sigh and whisk him off for medical attention. Hylians had a good resistance to fatal wounds, but Link liked to test those limits on a daily basis. 

Sidon had to consider that Link was the only Hylian for the job. That meant, of course, putting himself in death-defying situations with very little thank yous or tokens of appreciation. It was part of the reason why Sidon wanted to make sure he was the one taking care of Link whenever he showed up in the Zora’s Domain; he had seen other people charge the hero for food and places to sleep after he had literally stopped their world from flooding.

After Va Ruta was put to rest, Link was off to other corners of the map to right was has been wrong. It made Sidon a bit worried about him, seeing his selflessness expressed over and over, yet many of the other Zora had immense faith in him. They all had acted as if he couldn’t be touched. They all acted as if they couldn’t see the bruises all over his body and the way he winced if he moved the wrong way.

But Sidon didn’t. 

Link was sitting by a healing bath with him now, letting Sidon try to remove some splinters from his hand with his careful yet oversized fingers. His head was down, back hunched over as he peered at the hand. Ah, there’s another one. He used his sharp nails as pincers and plucked a fine sliver of wood from the flesh. Link didn’t even flinch. 

Their feet were dangling in the water, Link’s shoes by the wayside and his pants pulled up so that they wouldn’t get soaked in the bath. The tint of the water was a translucent turquoise and beautiful petals from flowers floated in the shimmering liquid. Silent Princess flowers gave off a wonderful, low scent that lingered in the air. The heat given off from the bath made the room warm and steamy, Sidon feeling his and Link’s skin perspiring. 

Another splinter was removed. “You got all of these from climbing a tree?” All Link could do was nod once more. “What, did you get in a fight with the tree, too?” It was a light hearted question, but Link shrugged his shoulders with a complex expression on his face. 

His mouth opened and closed once, twice now. This talking thing was... new to him, to say the least. It strained him, and took a lot to do it. However, Sidon had a hold of his hand at the moment and his skin did sting from his attempt at this new splinter he found by the side of his thumb. It would have been a bit of trouble to sign what he wanted to explain. The word strangled itself in his throat, but came out in a rough breath. “Guardian.” Link wished he could explain more, but it was too much to say when he had so little practice. 

It was startling to hear Link speak. Sidon blinked at him a few times, as if registering what he had said. Then, he responded, “Guardian... cut down the tree?” The splinter came out, and the way that Sidon’s hand that held Link’s relaxed let him know that all of the small pieces of wood were gone. They were all in a bowl that also held bloody pieces of cloth, an arrow head, and stitching materials. 

Link took his hand back to illustrate what he meant. His voice wasn’t hard to use for simple noises, and he whistled in a way to show an incoming lazer. One of his fingers stayed still, playing the part of the tree, while the other came in fast and caused him to make an explosion sound with both hands spreading apart. Looking back up at Sidon with his blue eyes, he cracked a grin. The Zora was laughing at the display. 

“And you were near the tree?” It took another, shorter demonstration to clarify where Link was in that situation. “You were climbing the tree, I understand now.” 

Sidon got up then, carrying the bowl of things over to a table to set it down. “You’re a brave hero who gets blown up by Guardians and makes it sound comical. Any average Zora wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale! By the Gods, I wouldn’t have, either!” He chuckled, thinking of the scene. Poor Link, putting himself through all of this for the good of the people. Well, for the good of himself in this situation, since he was positive that Link was absolutely climbing that tree just for an apple. 

He had seemed to remember something, and smacked his hand down on the table in a bit of excitement. Link was so used to Sidon’s suddenness that he wasn’t very startled by it. “Ah, I forgot! You’re probably starving, let me get you something to eat. Oh, how foolish of me, hopefully they have something of substance nearby-” The talking continued on as he walked out, now carrying that bowl with him to give to somebody to dispose of its contents. 

Now Link was alone. His eyes tracked his feet as they swished in the water, feeling the soothing energy just from this. Surely he was meant to get in it, but he was a bit lost in thought. Or, rather, lost in feeling.

Throughout all of the treatment from Sidon and others he had called in to help, Link had remained awake. Sidon had been repeatedly making sure he wasn’t in too much pain, and Link had finally convinced him after some time that he was going to be okay no matter what lengths they went to treat him. Going through much worse did this to a person. Bones had been reset, splints made and aftershocks had after being electrocuted more than once. Link’s been burned, frozen, pinned, stomped on, and downright blown up. He was going to survive.

It was beginning to weigh on him, this fatigue from both finite and immense pains. His eyes must have been drooping at this point. Link reached behind his head with his better arm of the two, working the band that kept his hair out of his face out of its hold. It took some effort, but eventually he was shaking his head and letting the hair fall. Wavy blonde strands framed his face and tickled his nose. He blew those away with a small, tired smile. 

Rubbing his hands up and down his arms gently, Link looked into the water. His shirt was off already from having to go through his treatment. Getting himself to stand up with only some light disturbance to the water, Link dropped his pants and stepped out of them. Every limb seemed to be screaming at him to take it easy or felt like they weighed one thousand pounds. This bath was going to be the best thing that’s happened to him in months. 

Lowering himself into the water proved to be a bit difficult on his muscles. He got in there eventually, settling down as he sat in the water. Looking down, Link saw the blueish greenish tint in the water on his skin. The pool of water poured in from the sides from slits in the wall, ensuring that the water would never completely cool down and always have fresh water. It was a rather beautiful room, an even glow coming off of the bath as well. Link let himself slip more into the water, nose and eyes over the water line. That soon became just his eyes, and he held his breath while he closed them and felt the warmth take over his body.

Sidon had come back while he was dipping his head into the water, hoping to wash some of the mess out of his hair. While it was wavy, it was darker than it really should be. There was muck in it that needed to get out, so Link began to swim over to where the water fell from the walls. 

Halfway across the pool of water, he looked up towards the door and noticed SIdon. He smiled genuinely at him, which Sidon returned with a toothy grin. “You look comfortable.” Link nodded in agreement, making his way to the walls again and letting his hair get filtered with the water running through it. His hands got to work as well, pulling tangles and combing through it over and over. Sidon found himself staring, blushed, and tried to look away. His eyes still found themselves on Link again, who was too distracted with his own agenda to notice at the time. 

He had been making a face trying to work through a particularly large knot when he had finally noticed Sidon’s stare. Link glanced before doing a double take, tearing through the knot in his hair lifting his head again towards the Zora. It took Sidon a second to realize he was getting a look back.

 

“Oh, I uh- sorry, Link, I hadn’t noticed I was...” He swallowed, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry.”

That made Link put on a funny smile, shaking his head. Sidon’s blush had to have deepened in that moment, he was sure of it. It must have somehow gotten even worse when Link motioned for him to join in the bath. “Are you sure?” He was given another nod, much more eager than other ones before it. Sidon took the invitation this time, getting into the water slowly as if afraid to disturb it. Link watched him, moving away from the wall now and towards Sidon.

They met in the middle, Link looking up at Sidon before a crooked smile was on his face. He yawned not long after that. “I’m guessing the bath is working for you.” Sidon assumed. It did have a habit of making its users very sleepy. 

‘Yes.’ Link signed, before signing, ‘Thank you for the care.’ His hands dropped back into the water, swishing them around as he tilted his head as he looked up at Sidon for a response.

Settling more into the water, Sidon said, “No need to thank me, hero! I should be the one thanking you, after all you’ve been doing.” He didn’t mean to gush, but he was saying what was on his mind. ”I mean, anything to keep you in top shape is for the best!” He flashed that grin of his at Link, which made him snort a bit. 

Link was more than accustomed to Sidon’s positive attitude, and found himself very fond of it. He rubbed his eyes, attempting to stifle a yawn. ‘Tired.’ His hands were a bit sloppy with signing that, but Sidon could very much understand what he meant. 

They both had been moving in the water, practically dancing around each other as they spoke to one another. Sidon now draped his arms over the edge of the pool and Link seemed to be getting closer to him. Maybe he was just staying in one spot but it looked like he was getting closer. Sidon didn’t want to get his hopes up. “Are you ready to head to your room? It should be set up for you.” 

At that, Link shook his head. He had been hovering close, slicking his hair back with the water and closing his eyes for a moment. With a soft hum, he let himself float backwards and against the wall of the pool. It was where Sidon’s arm was draped, which made him a bit conscious of it. Was Link there on purpose? Should he move his arm? 

That small bit of anxiousness doubles when Link’s arm brushed against his side. “You okay, hero?” Sidon asked, trying to mask his nervousness. He received a nod, which made him relax a bit.

‘Comfortable.’ Link signed to him before leaning against Sidon. That made Sidon relax completely now, arm around Link’s shoulders in a way that didn’t harm him. The water was rather still around them now, and he could feel Link’s calm breaths get slower and deeper. Sidon couldn’t help the smile that was on his face as he held the Hylian close, warm and soothed in the bath. Comfortable... he had said he was comfortable... that's good. Happy to be there to thank Link for his service in the small ways that he could, Sidon closed his eyes and enjoyed the shared space.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: aam5ever


End file.
